“……Huh?”

Lizbeth opened her mouth in disbelief, then laughed.

“Really…… Young lady……”

It was then. Instead of coming out, the woman who had gone to the room where the children were belatedly jumped down from the second floor. With a protective barrier around her body. Sesenia, who had been looking at Lizbeth, clapped her hands towards that woman.

“Congratulations on your safe escape.”

“Are you really insane?!”

The woman, who had been moving listlessly as if she had no will to live until now, shouted with an expression she had never shown before.

“Thanks to the fire, the magic circle on the floor was broken, wasn’t it? Shouldn’t you be grateful for being able to escape from there because of that?”

“That’s…!”

“How did you know about those things, is that what you’re supposed to ask next?”

The woman’s complexion wasn’t very good as she looked at Sesenia.

“But is now the time to ask such things? It would be better to run away before the owner, who has learned that the magic circle is broken, returns.”

“…Where are the kids!”

“If I was going to tell you that, I wouldn’t have done this from the beginning. Honestly, you could escape too if you weren’t bound by the magic circle. So isn’t it enough to be grateful and run away?”

Lizbeth tilted her head, looking at the unusually confident Sesenia, but Sesenia didn’t even give Lizbeth a glance. She was too busy looking at that woman.

“Isn’t that right?”

“……”

“Are you afraid of the future? Worried that you might be chased because of this? But you know what? Even if the children were alive, even if the children safely went to the Salmon Kingdom, you would have been killed.”

At those words, the woman burst out as if she had been waiting.

“What do you know!”

“Thinking that it’s best to kill and erase the evidence of a used pawn……”

Sesenia tapped her temple with her long finger.

“It’s a common thought that comes from the heads of those in power.”

It was all too obvious. First of all, in the future Sesenia knew, in the future of the twins that Lizbeth had spoken of, this woman did not exist.

‘Back then, she might have been killed for the crime of losing the children…… Even if the children safely went to the Salmon Empire, there’s no way this woman could have lived.’

If they had intended to save her from the beginning, they wouldn’t have put a magic circle here to bind her.

Sesenia stared at her quietly.

“What on earth do you know!”

“The appearance of an orphanage about to collapse. The unusually clean floor in that dusty place. An orphanage teacher who has no interest in the children. The only thing she cares about is the orphanage director. It’s strange to anyone who sees it, isn’t it?”

“How did you know we’re from Salmon for such strange reasons? Who sent you? Who told you to spirit away the children!”

“I didn’t spirit them away. I just gave freedom to those poor children. If I had spirited them away, would I be here with you now? And I said earlier, ‘If you’re an imperial citizen belonging to the empire, or even if you’re running an orphanage on imperial land, even if you’re from another country, you should follow the law,’ but you didn’t point out that part at all. So I realized you’re not from this country.”

“Th-that’s nonsense. You figured out the whole situation just from that?”

Sesenia smirked.

‘That’s absolutely impossible.’

If she hadn’t seen the past, Sesenia wouldn’t have known anything. The fact that there was an orphanage here, who the twins here were.

She had heard about those children when she was the empress, but she couldn’t have known in such detail. Everything was learned thanks to Lizbeth. The rest were Sesenia’s guesses.

‘Judging by that woman’s reaction, everything I thought seems to be correct.’

“You don’t have to believe it if you don’t want to. But you know you don’t have much time, right?”

“……”

“Go to the Imperial Magic Tower. No matter what your origin is, they’ll accept you there.”

“Are you telling me to rely on something like the Imperial Magic Tower now?!”

“What else are you going to do? What other way is there for you, who has no power, who has no one to help you, to survive?”

The woman’s face hardened at the words that hit the mark.

“Don’t put on unnecessary pride. To survive, you have to rely even on a foreign country’s Magic Tower. And since the Magic Tower welcomes anyone with power, it won’t be that bad.”

If the royal twins of Salmon went to the Magic Tower, they would live a life that was not good, even if not experimented on. But not this woman. A magician with moderate power. And someone trying to seek asylum because they’re not safe in their own country.

She’s just the type of talent the Magic Tower would like.

“……”

Thinking that there was nothing to gain by saying this and that here, she bit her lips.

The twins were gone. Even if she searched, there was no way she could find them. She knows how difficult it was to bring the twins here. The Salmon royal twins who had escaped and were barely caught by others.

‘I absolutely can’t catch them. Then I……’

There was no choice from the beginning. How the noble lady named Sesenia Bestel knew about her, those things weren’t really important.

What was important was that the old magic formula that tied her to this place was broken. And she also knew to some extent.

That even if the twins safely returned to Salmon, the probability of her dying was high. Because another friend who ran the orphanage together died in that way.

“……Erianere.”

“Hm?”

“It’s my name. Anyway…… whatever it is, you did help me escape from there…… so I’ll at least tell you my name.”

“I hope we don’t meet again for good or bad reasons. I hope your news doesn’t come from anywhere. I’ll pray for that earnestly.”

That was the end. Erianere, who had finished saying everything, quickly disappeared. She acted as if she would go looking for the twins right away in front of Sesenia, but the probability of her going to look for the twins was extremely low.

Watching that, Sesenia slowly moved towards the carriage.

“Let’s go.”

“Is this really okay?”

“Of course.”

“Did you…… do this to set that woman free……?”

Tedel completely trusted Sesenia. So he looked like he would believe even if Sesenia committed murder here. In contrast, Lizbeth didn’t seem to understand at all.

“Do my actions need to have a reason?”

“Of course. It’s not just anything else…… if an investigation starts, there will surely be problems. The owner of the orphanage will definitely look for the last visitor…… although this place is remote, it’s not a place where there are no people at all……”

Sesenia got into the carriage while listening to Lizbeth’s words.

“Ah…… young lady……?”

“It doesn’t matter if anyone saw. Even if this place is burned down, the owner of this place won’t be able to question it.”

“What……?”

“You heard earlier. This isn’t a real orphanage. There were children, but they weren’t kept with good intentions.”

“……Young lady. You seem to know too much. How do you know such things?”

Lizbeth’s expression, which had been flustered, gradually changed.

‘As expected.’

It started to show little by little from what couldn’t be seen at all. That the Lizbeth in front of her was not the Lizbeth she knew in the past. More precisely, it was that Lizbeth, but she also had memories of the future.

“Well. Are such things important? I want to…… live the present perfectly.”

“……Young lady. Is that included in that perfection?”

“Yes. That perfection includes Lizbeth, Tedel. And Rohan too.”

Sesenia’s expression changed as she said those words. She didn’t want to say that her family members were not included in that perfection. Because every time she talked about those people who were only connected by blood, her mood dampened. Sesenia forced a smile.

“I hope everyone will be in a perfect future without dying. So……”

“I understand. I won’t ask any more. But I wish you would tell me a little more. The current you…… seems like a different person. As if you’re deliberately trying to do everything alone…… It seems like you’re not asking anything. I can be of help too…… I want to help you create a perfect future.”

“Alright.”

Sesenia, who had gotten onto the carriage first, patted Lizbeth’s head as if petting a puppy.

“And Lizbeth. There’s nothing to worry about. I may have been the last to visit that place, but did anyone see me set the fire? Tedel, did I set the fire?”

“No? You didn’t do anything, young lady.”

“Yes, if there’s any fault, it would be Tedel’s fault for bringing the cotton.”

Sesenia looked at Tedel with a smirk.

“Yes. Everything is because of me. If my master would give me even a penny’s worth of attention, I can do anything.”

‘I wonder what happened.’

Sesenia was puzzled by Tedel, who followed her more than she had thought. It wasn’t bad that he liked her, but there was no trigger to speak of.

‘Rather, it’s difficult.’

It was more difficult to give her heart to unreasoned affection and unconditional trust. For him, she might be the lifesaver who saved his life, who got him out of that hell-like place, and then allowed him to live like a human being, not a slave, and provided convenience, but she wasn’t Sesenia.

All of that was the hypocrisy of a wealthy person, and it was just a choice for her own future.

“Alright. Then let’s go. Let’s go to the company.”

“Yes.”

After Sesenia got into the carriage, Lizbeth started the carriage. However, the carriage carrying the three people stopped not long after.

“Stop the carriage here.”

“Pardon?”

“And open the carriage door. A guest is expected to come.”

“A guest?”

Although puzzled, Lizbeth opened the carriage door as Sesenia said. However, even after a long time, no one got into the carriage.